After Connecticut shooting, Marin schools tweak safety procedures

A month after a gunman killed 26 people at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, Marin schools are re-examining their safety procedures but appear unlikely to implement any sweeping changes.

School officials say they have prepared specifically for mass shootings since at least 1999, when two gunmen killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado. Since then schools have held regular drills and worked with law enforcement to fine-tune their safety plans.

"The Newtown shooting was horrific and tragic and certainly brought this issue to light again, but I'll tell you, it's never been far from my thinking," said Lars Christensen, principal of Terra Linda High School. "It's something that I think about every day."

Marin school and law enforcement officials say that over the past few weeks they have discussed what, if anything, could be done to better prepare for a shooting. Christensen said his district, San Rafael City Schools, is seeking more uniformity in the approaches of its different campuses.

"We'll never be completely safe from a hostile intruder, given their want to do people harm, but we certainly, I believe, can make improvements."

Schools have already made some temporary changes, such as more strictly enforcing requirements that visitors check in at the office before heading to classrooms.

In the Dixie School District, teachers have been allowed to keep their classroom doors locked for the past few weeks, temporarily reversing a policy requiring them to remain unlocked. But officials have not decided on a permanent rule, Superintendent Thomas Lohwasser said.

And in the Kentfield School District, teachers were asked after the Newtown shooting to lock their doors, or set them to automatically lock when closed.

"I don't think you can be 100 percent prepared, but children's safety is our number one priority and it's something that is at the forefront," Kentfield schools Superintendent Mary Jo Pettegrew said.

Pettegrew and other officials said they have not officially made changes to their school safety plans, which are formal documents required under state law. Any formal changes will come after recommendations from law enforcement, they said.

"Sweeping changes may not at this point be in order, but there could be some tweaking, there could be some further recommendations for training," said Luke McCann, assistant superintendent for the Marin County Office of Education.

McCann said his office and the county Office of Emergency Services are planning to set up countywide "active shooter" training for school employees, based on a curriculum from the California Emergency Management Agency.

Separately, the Novato Police Department will run a countywide law enforcement training course that includes exercises on campuses during non-school hours.

Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle said his office has been checking with schools in the unincorporated county to review safety procedures. But he said some of the factors that place students at risk are beyond schools' control, such as mental health problems and the proliferation of assault weapons.

"There are just things that you can't prevent, no matter what you do," Doyle said. "No one is throwing in the towel, no one is saying it's impossible, but what we're saying is there are some things that are very difficult to prepare for."

On Tuesday, Doyle's office will participate in a gun buyback event coordinated by the county district attorney's office in an effort to cut the number of firearms in circulation.